New York City
Sarah Daniels’ The Madness of Esme and Shaz is set in modern day London. Esme is devoutly religious, 65, and lives alone in a flat with her Bible and piano. Shaz is her lesbian niece who has spent the last 13 years institutionalized in a psychiatric hospital for committing a horrific crime. With no one else to take her in, Shaz moves in with Esme and the two of them learn the true meaning of love, happiness, madness, and acceptance.